Raising dogs has become a social phenomenon in China and perhaps a "marker of how quickly this nation is hurtling through its transformation from impoverished peasant to first-world citizen," said an article in the New York Times on Oct 14.

Take Beijing for example. There were hardly any dogs here twenty years ago. But it is far easier to find dog-treat stores, dog websites, dog social networks, dog swimming pools and even a bring-your-dog cinema and a bring-your-dog bar in Beijing recently.

According to Beijing officials, there are 900,000 dogs in the city and their numbers growing 10 percent a year. "And those are the registered ones. Countless thousands of others are unlicensed."

How this came to be is, in some ways, the story of modern China. Centuries ago, China's elite kept dogs as pets. But after the foundation of New China, dogs were more likely to be guards and herders. "People used to be focused on improving their own lives, and they weren't really acquainted with raising dogs," said the owner of a Siberian husky in Beijing. "But with the improvement in the economy, people's outlooks have changed. There's a lot of stress in people's lives, and having a dog is a way to relieve it."

But "there are other factors in dogs' newfound popularity: Many owners also say China's one-child policy has fanned enthusiasm for dog ownership as a way to provide companionship to only children in young households and to fill empty nests in homes whose children have grown up."

Some say "dogs have become a status symbol for upwardly mobile Beijingers." He Yan, 25, owner of two small mixed breeds, said young Beijingers like her are dubbed gouyou, or "dog friends." "Dogs, she said, have become a way to display one's tastes and, not least of all, a way to meet people with similar interests."

And "for a certain class with more money than sense, owning an especially prized breed has become the Chinese equivalent of driving a Lamborghini to the local supermarket."

However, not all Beijingers are so inclined. A Beijing Internet blog, City Dog Forbidden, "moderates a spirited debate between dog lovers and those who believe, as one wrote, that dogs "are seriously disturbing the normal lives of other people."

"The birth of humans needs to be planned, but anyone can raise a dog?" asked one incredulous post. "The resources that you conserve from having less people, you give to dogs? This is a very serious problem. Are you saying that people are worth less than dogs?"